


breaking cages/turning pages

by maurawrites



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, I just really wanted a slow burn buddie fic, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, also both boys consider themselves straight...until they don't, bc uh i dont wanna deal with shannon, one where we get the lead up to them actually liking eachother, this fic is cannon compliant.....until it isn't
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-05
Updated: 2019-04-05
Packaged: 2020-01-04 23:34:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18354020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maurawrites/pseuds/maurawrites
Summary: Buck doesn't know how to feel about the new recruit.  Sure, he has a silver star, an eight pack and a pair of smoldering brown eyes.  But Buck isn't jealous, not at all.  Or maybe he is.  Although, he's not exactly sure if that's what he's feeling.





	breaking cages/turning pages

**Author's Note:**

> idk, y'all, I just really wanted a slow burn buddie fic that doesn't immediately have the two drooling over each other. this fic is gonna be cannon compliant (until it's not) so that mostly means writing scenes from the show with some stuff i read in between the lines + some extra scenes i felt would've happened. tbf first chapter is mostly a recap of the first ep of the season. this is my first fic in ages pls don't hurt me ok byeeeeee!

“They say a man is at his sexiest when he reaches 50” Cap chimes in, interrupting Buck’s bragging and the team’s chiding of him.  Knowing they can’t outright laugh, Chim, Hen and Buck all give sardonic nods and some incredulous words.

 

Puffing out his chest, Chim tries to convince the group that he’s going to be the next Asian sex symbol and Buck does let out a chuckle this time.  Sure, he’s sure some go for the slim type but...Who would pick Chim over a muscled up hunk? He doesn’t want to seem cocky, but Buck had been putting the work in at the gym the past month or so in preparation, and was sure he’d be the station’s pick.

 

“I mean sure,” Buck starts, acting as if he’s entertaining the idea that either Chim  _ or _ Cap could beat him “--But let’s be real, they  _ are _ only picking one candidate from each station…” He trails off, preparing himself for the playful arguing that he just  _ knows _ will ensue.  Except it doesn’t.  Both Hen and Chim’s eyes are staring past him, and Buck feels the chill from lack of attention.

 

“Now that is a beautiful man.” Chim mumbles out, practically slack-jawed.  Buck’s eyes flit over to Hen, who’s expression mirrors Chim’s. 

 

“Where’s the lie?” She responds and Buck finally follows their eyes, and he has to stop himself from imitating their stupid expressions.  With a clenched jaw, Buck takes in the newcomer, not listening to what else Hen says. The man is tall, although with a bit of smug realization Buck realizes he’s probably taller.  He has a dark, smoldering look about him, dark hair, dark eyes, a smattering of dark hair on his chest (but not too much, Buck unconsciously notes). As the man slips on his shirt and begins to tuck it into his pants, Buck can’t help but notice how the uniform seems as if it was made to suit his body.  The pants, slightly high rise to give a bit of a formal look to the uniform, highlights his lean torso. The LAFD t-shirt fit snugly over broad shoulder and chest. Buck thought he filled out the uniform well himself, but now he felt himself questioning that.

 

“Who the hell is that?” he questions, his voice suddenly harsh, a huge difference from his buoyant, joking tone from only moments ago.  As he turned back to the Captain for an explanation he tried to re-arrange his face from what he could only assume was an openly hostile expression to something more...Curious?

 

Cap’s eyes found Buck’s face, and he did that thing that Buck hated, looking at you like he was observing you, with an air that said he knew something about your reaction that you didn’t.  “That’s Eddie Diaz. New recruit. Graduated top of his class just this week. Guys over at station 6 were dying to have him, but I convinced him to join us.”

  
  


“What do we need him for?” Buck interrupted impatiently.  He wasn’t sure why he was so against this new team member, but the feeling was strong, and Buck wasn’t exactly one to stop his emotions from being known.  They all laughed in response, as if he had said something funny, and Buck found himself growing even more frustrated. He was serious. They had a great team.  Cap was, well he was Cap. He was the level headed leader slash patriarch of their little family, always cool in crisis. Hen was a hell of a paramedic and the one who kept it real.  Chim was the comedic relief and could roll with the punches like nobody’s business. And Buck? Well buck was the good looking bad-ass, always willing to do the dangerous stuff, no matter the risk.  And suddenly his territory was being encroached on.

 

As their laughter died down, Cap continued listing off this new guy’s accomplishments, and Buck couldn’t help but inwardly roll his eyes.  Had he memorized his CV? “He served multiple tours in Afghanistan as an Army medic. Guy’s got a silver star. It’s not like he’s wet behind the ears.”

 

“C’mon, I’ll introduce you to him. -- He likes to be called eight-pack.” Cap finished, poking fun at the vulnerability his stupidly observant eyes picked up on in Buck.  The team walked around him as he stood in place, too stunned to move, only shocked out of it as Chim brought an open palm to his stomach and an ill timed joke 

 

“Better drop some more body fat there, butch.”  Buck grimaced and finally turned back around as Chim walked past, glaring as the rest of the team ooh’ed and aww’ed over their new recruit.  

 

\- 

 

Buck had drifted off, knowing that whatever he was feeling at the moment wouldn’t translate well into an introduction.  When the alarm finally rang, he was relieved, whatever happened on the call, the team would be reminded why Buck was their guy, not some random newbie.

 

With this new resolve in his head, as he hopped in the truck, sat across from the new guy, he wasn’t even in a bad mood.  That is until they all started prodding for info on his medal and his valor and honor and shit. But even then, Buck looked straight ahead, focusing himself so he could show this new kid what was what when they jumped off that truck.

 

It wasn’t until Hen started with the “Eddie, you heard about the hot firefighter calendar?” did Buck start paying attention.  He glared at her, willing her to stop. Although, he wasn’t sure if it’s because he didn’t want Eddie to get in on the action or if Buck was suddenly embarrassed as to what this guy would think about his passion on the subject.

 

Not too willing to find out which, Buck changed the subject.  “So is your full name Eduardo?” 

 

“No.” Monosyllabic, Buck could respect that.  He didn’t usually use that tactic, but it could win some ladies over. --- Except, Eddie wasn’t flirting, and why would Buck want him to be?

 

“People ever call you Diaz?”  

 

“Not if they want me to respond.” Buck was starting to become frustrated, that mindset he had when getting in the truck quickly disappearing.  This guy just came off so effortlessly cool, and it was beginning to get on his nerves. Buck had to flaunt all his accomplishments to get them noticed, while everyone seemed to fawn over this guy without him even trying.

 

But Buck just kept on going, resorting to his tried and true technique for when he was uncomfortable--non stop talking-- “Something's got to give. We got we got Cap, Hen, Chimney, Buck. We can't just call you ‘Eddie’.”

 

And as if he wasn’t there the guy looked around to the rest of the crew and spoke “Can’t tell if he’s being serious or not.”

 

And as if they weren’t talking right in front of him, Chim responded.  “I like to always operate under the assumption that nothing he says is serious.”  

 

Now, Buck was used to everyone’s jokes and chiding, that what families did.  It was as if his older siblings were poking fun, no matter what they said, he could never get too mad about it.  But this was a new guy, he didn’t get to do that yet. And Chim didn’t get to join in on it. That wasn’t fair. It had taken Buck weeks to settle in when he was a rookie, yet this guy just comes strutting in and finds his place right away?  Fuck that.

 

-

 

Eddie was excited to be apart of a team again.  The camaraderie was what he missed most of being in the army.  It was the thing that kept him going most days while overseas. And once he returned, well….His life just seemed to be missing something.  And it was an awful feeling to have, knowing he came back whole, he came back to his kid, he came back to his family, unlike so many other soldiers.  But still, he couldn’t fill that hole of friendship and teamwork with anything, no matter how hard he tried. 

 

He had thought about joining the police force, as a few of his buddies from the unit did.  But his hands were tired of holding a weapon, and he just didn’t think it would feel the same, it wouldn’t fill that hole.  He had loved his job overseas, being a paramedic, and he figured...Why not just do the same thing over here? And while he was excited to fill that gap that his unit left, he was keeping his hopes low, wary that anything would truly be able to take that place.

 

But as he bumped along inside the truck, the crew asking him questions, joking around, he could already see him liking this new job just fine.  Hen, Chimney, and the Captain all seemed ready and happy to welcome him to the team, it was just Buck who seemed to be at odds with him. And Eddie wasn’t exactly sure why.  He hadn’t introduced himself when the rest had, and the questions he threw at him in the truck seemed to be out of obligation and not much else.

 

Maybe he thought Eddie fancied himself as a hot shot?  Chimney bringing up the silver star situation didn’t exactly help.  It couldn’t be further from the truth. While Eddie was confident in his abilities, he knew that the stuff he knew was made for combat, and while he was sure it would come in handy, he knew he would be learning about how they did stuff out here, as civilians.  He knew he was the new guy, he was open to learning, and he was a team player, he just hoped he could convey this to all of them, but especially Buck, in hopes of on-the-job-harmony.

 

But as soon as they stepped on the scene, all of Eddie’s worries and anxieties melted away, because this was his element, he knew what he was doing.  His focus shifted from getting along with his new co-workers (namely, Buck) and onto the task at hand, the patient, just as it should be.

 

Though, it seems, this was where he made his vital mistake.  At first, it was all going well, each of them focused on their own task; Hen was listening and monitoring vitals, Chimney was on meds, he was on oxygen, and then Buck was put on relieving the pressure from the air buildup. 

 

With the small thought of ‘show him you can be a team player’, and with Buck having a needle in his hand, Eddie reached forward to start unbuttoning the man’s shirt with a quick ‘Need help?’ thrown in his coworker’s direction.

 

His hands had already started their work, but Buck quickly shot him down.  This wasn’t a hill Eddie was going to die on, so he backed off. But as Buck got the 14 gauge into position, Eddie knew he was going about it all wrong, and while he didn’t want to step on toes, he wasn’t about to let a man die to keep the peace.

 

“I’d go lower.” he spoke up, 

 

“What?” Buck looked up at him, incredulous “Um, no, second intercostal space, mid-clavicular line.”  While Eddie knew that was how Buck was probably trained and was going by the textbook, he knew it wasn’t this guy’s best shot.

 

“The chest wall is thinner at the fifth intercostal at the anterior axillery line.  There’s a decreased change at injuring any vital organs.” He argued, before adding “I’ve treated guys with collapsed lungs in combat.” He didn’t want to throw his experience in any one’s face, but he did want to show he knew what he was talking about, he wasn’t just disagreeing for shits and giggles.

 

Although, when Cap gave him the go ahead he could feel Buck’s eyes boring a hole through his skull.  He tried to assuage the situation with a soft ‘please’ as he held out his hand to Buck for the gauge, but he didn’t think it did much good.  In the end, though, they saved the guy, and that’s all that mattered. He’d take all of Buck’s hostility if it meant that guy could go home to his family.

 

And even with his chimed in ‘Yeah, good call’ after Cap’s and Chimney’s, Eddie could still feel the hostility rolling off him in waves, and knew whatever this thing was, it was far from over.

 

-

 

Eddie was still determined to put his best foot forward, but he had made the decision that when it came to Buck (because no one else seemed to be having a problem) he would try and be as inoffensive as possible, but he wasn’t going to back down just because he was the ‘newbie’.  He had the experience, and he wasn’t going to hide that. But still, he had a bit of nervous energy when walking in the next morning. He had gotten there a bit early so he could use the gym equipment, having time between dropping Christopher off at school and the beginning of his shift.  He figured hitting the punching bag would be a good way to work off some of those nerves. He had grew up boxing, and had even gotten into a bit of MMA towards the end of high school, and while now he only did it for fun, he found it a great way to...Well, center himself or whatever. 

 

But as he walked to the workout area, he was a bit annoyed to find Buck already there.  He wanted to work out to get himself ready for a day against Buck, yet here he was. But with a deep breath and a roll of his shoulders, Eddie steadied himself.  He was here to work out, and Buck was gonna do what he was gonna do, nothing Eddie could do about it. 

 

As he started on the bag, he fell into a rhythm and could feel himself starting to zone out, just like he wanted.  But it wasn’t enough not to notice a pair of eyes on him. He could really only get a few good hits in before his concentration began to wane, with Buck coming over to grab more free weights and Chim making his way over.   He tried to brush it off, tried to get back to the bag, but as Buck whipped out a god damn selfie stick, he gave up.

 

“You’re in the wrong light, man.” He knew he should’ve just kept his mouth shut, but if this kid was going to fuck up everyone’s workout with his vain antics, Eddie wanted to at least make it worth it.

 

“Some of us don’t need lighting to look good.” Was the response he got, and Eddie couldn’t help but snort at the entire situation.  But decided he’d try and get back to the bag, only to be interrupted by Chim, although it’s not an interruption he minded this time.  

 

Listening to his question about lighting, Eddie responded “The light in the room is flat and blue, makes you look soft.  If you want to look lean and muscles to pop, you need warm side light.” He was going to leave it at that, but glancing over, he could see he caught Buck’s attention and….Well, he wanted to keep it for just long enough to annoy him a bit.  He knew it was petty, but he wasn’t in a great mood with his workout being interrupted.

 

Heading to his bag to pull out his phone, he told Chim he’d show him an example.  “These are the ones I sent in for the calendar.” He wasn’t going to submit, but when he found out the charity it was going to, he figured it’d be worth the shit he’d get from his cousins.  

 

He smiled a bit as he got a ‘Whoa’ from Chim, but it quickly disappeared as Buck spoke up.

 

“It’s, uh, kind of cheating, submitting pictures by a professional photographer.”

 

“The photographer’s twelve.” he shot back, laughing.  Honestly, how insecure could this dude be? “It’s my niece, she’s a master at the iphone filters.” he explained to Chim, seeing that Buck had drifted away, and wanting to make sure he knew Eddie didn’t give a shit.  Granted, he  _ really  _ didn’t, but he just wanted to make sure that fact was well known.  He continued his conversation with Chim, hesitating slightly when he asked if his niece could take his photos as well, but figuring he was harmless, agreed.     

 

“You know, you really shouldn’t get his hopes up like that.” came from the free weights, and Eddie couldn’t help but look a bit incredulous as he stared at Buck.  Was he serious? Was he that rude? He glanced over at Chim, giving him an apologetic look, because well, that was fucked up. “No offense, Chim.” Buck finished.

 

Either Chimney really didn’t care or he had gone through this enough because he responded with a simple “No offense taken, Evan.”  Although Eddie was surprised to hear Buck’s real first name, and figured that it’s use may not be a good sign.

 

Eddie could take a lot of shit, he was comfortable enough in himself, his body and his life that people could really say whatever they wanted and he didn’t even feel the need to respond, and while Chim may feel the same, Eddie was pretty fucking fed up with this kid’s attitude.  And he decided to say something about it.

 

“What’s your problem, man?” He asked, walking over.  He knew those four words could do a lot of damage. He had seen those four words lead to broken noses and black eyes, but he couldn’t help himself.  As Buck looked up at him with those light, almost grey eyes, it was only then Eddie realized it wasn’t a bruise he had above his eye, but rather a port wine stain birthmark.  Interesting, but irrelevant at the current moment.

 

“Okay…” he could tell the kid was gearing himself up.  “You.” Well, no shit, Sherlock, Eddie wanted to say, but figure it’d cause more trouble than it was worth.  “You’re my problem. Your comfort level. You're-you're not supposed to just walk in here like you've been here for years.  It's meant-meant to be a getting-to-know-you period. You're meant to respect your elders.”

 

“You’re not his elder, Buck.” Chimney chirped in, and Eddie wanted to laugh, but figured that wasn’t exactly appropriate, even if it was true.  

 

Taking a breath to keep himself from laughing, Eddie figured he could hopefully put an end to this right now.  But honestly, he knew from years of dealing with guys like Buck, that someone had to be alpha, but he couldn’t go about it aggressively.  It was like training a dog, to show you were it’s alpha, you had to do it in small, unobtrusive ways (you ate first, you walked through a door first).  If you just shoved the dog down while it jumped or swatted it away when it bit, it would just come back at you double. 

 

“Look, I in no way meant to--uh--be too familiar...or step on anybody's toes.” He paused, knowing his next words may be taken poorly, but figuring it needed to be done “I know you're going through some personal stuff right now---”

 

He didn’t get to finish before he was interrupted “What personal stuff?”

 

“I know your girlfriend recently broke up with you and you’re coming to terms with that.” he responded

 

“I’m not…--Who told you that?” Buck’s eyes flicked to Chim (who was, if Eddie was being honest, the one who told him and a huge gossip).

 

Eddie continued as if Buck hadn’t interrupted him “I'm just saying I hear you're a good guy, and I'm sorry you're going through pain, but you don't need to take it out on me or-or be threatened by me.  We're on the same team.”

 

“Why would I be threatened by you?”  Eddie swore he could practically see Buck puff out his chest, and he decided they were going around in circles, that just by pointing out that Buck  _ may _ be threatened by him, Eddie had made it worse.  

 

“Exactly.  There's no need to be.  We do the same thing. I've just done it while people are shooting at me is all.”  And with that unspoken mic drop, Eddie turned around and left.

  
  
  


\--

 

Buck was more than pleased when Cap called his name and gave the two finger beckon to follow him into the house, although that mood quickly soured when he also gave the instruction for him to ride in the back of the ambo with Eddie and the patient.  And he had that stupid look on again, the one that was waiting to gage his reaction, and told Buck that this was a test. He must’ve heard about the words and he and the newbie had exchanged in the fitness area. God damnit. 

 

Buck gave a begrudging “Copy that, Cap.”

 

“Hey.  You got to learn how to play nice.  It's one team, Buck.” Those words only confirmed Buck’s worst fears that he had noticed the tension.  Ever since his fuck up early on in the job, and how he had not only gotten a second, but a third chance, Buck wanted to look good in Cap’s eyes.  But this new guy was fucking that all up. Buck’s eyes dropped to the ground, embarrassed as he hopped in the back of the ambo.

 

As the truck moved forward, both Buck and Eddie jumped into action to make sure the patient was stable for the ride, and out of the ever watchful eye of their captain, Buck couldn’t help but make a snide comment.

 

“I guess you’ve seen a lot of shrapnel wounds.” The guy had made sure to make a big deal of pointing out he had done everything Buck had done, just under worse conditions, so Buck was going to bring it up too, since it was so damn important to him.  

 

“My share.” His coolness was infuriating, he just wanted to get a reaction from this guy, see that he was getting under his skin just as much as he was getting under Buck’s.  

 

“You ever see a guy with a length of rebar through his skull?” Buck knew in the back of his mind that this was neither the time nor place for a pissing match, but he wanted to show that for every piece of shrapnel he pulled from a guy, he had done and seen just as much.  He didn’t have the upper hand just because he had gone to war.

 

“What are we measuring here Buck?”  And while he refused to blow, Buck could tell he was starting to piss him off, which strangely enough started to put Buck at ease.  At least the guy was fuckin’ human. But he could also hear the--dissapointment?--in his voice, and he suddenly felt ashamed for using someone’s pain (someone he knew) to try and one up him, and he looked back down at the patient and began to change the dressings.

 

“Can you change those dressings?  They’re soaking through.” And with that, Buck was fed up again.  He was already doing that. Why did this guy think he could tell him what to do?  Tell him how to do his job?  _ He  _ was the newbie, not Buck.

 

“'I’m just saying, working the streets of L.A. is not exactly stress free.” he started, as he prepared the new gauze, “Maybe not be the same kind of pressure you have in a war zone, but---” his train of thought stopped as the patient grabbed the gauze Buck had just put down and both he and Eddie reacted simultaneously.

 

“I thought you said this was a practice round?” Buck looked up to see Eddie’s face etched with panic, something he wouldn’t expect to see on a so-called war tested paramedic.

 

“It is.” the patient mumbled, groggy from the loss of blood.

 

Buck’s eyes flicked from Eddie’s face, to the shrapnel in the wound, and back to his face.  “Uh, what--what--what’s going on?” He couldn’t help but stutter. He didn’t like not knowing what was going on.  But then again, who did?

 

“You see that cap?” he pointed with his gloved finger “Practice rounds have blue caps.  Gold caps are live.” For a moment, Eddie’s brown eyes bore into Buck’s grey ones as he came to the realization that Eddie had already reached.  But the moment was broken as Eddie turned to bang on the door of the back of the cab, screaming for the driver to pull over.

 

\--

 

“I thought this thing already went off.” Buck insisted.  Hadn’t this guy told the 9-1-1 operator it had already gone off?  Eddie could just be mistaken, right? 

 

“The launch grenade has two components: gunpowder which makes it travel and an explosive charge that makes it go boom.” Eddie explained, and Buck wanted to roll his eyes, but this time didn’t.  At least this time he was explaining something that Buck didn’t already know.

 

“Okay, so why didn’t this one go  _ boom _ ?” he asked in annoyance.  Why couldn’t he explain everything at once instead of this dramatic pause bull shit?

 

“It's fitted with a proximity fuse.  It's a little smart sensor that tells the cap it's traveled a safe enough distance from the shooter to explode.  From his hand to his leg probably wasn't far enough.” he said with a shrug, both him and Buck looking to the bomb squad dude.  He didn’t have any objections.

 

It was only as they began to discuss removing the grenade was it clear to Buck, Cap and probably Eddie that the patient didn’t have the almost two hours it would probably take for the military to come up from Camp Pendleton.  

 

Buck felt helpless, dangerous stuff was always his territory, but he didn’t know anything about it.  Give him a mountain to repel down, or a building to hang off of, and he was there. But getting a live grenade out of someone without help or knowledge on how to?  Well that was risky, even for him.

 

“I can do it.” Buck whipped his head around to look at Eddie.  Was he hearing him right? “If he doesn’t go to surgery soon, he’ll die.”  Oh great, Eddie the hero, stepping in once again.

 

As Eddie and Cap continued to talk, Buck fought to keep his mouth closed.  Maddie would kill him for this, but he wasn’t about to let Eddie have all the fun or glory.

 

“I’m in.”  He could feel Cap’s eyes on him, doing that magic trick he does, but Buck refused to look him in the eye.  He wasn’t getting him this time. 

 

As Buck suited up, he tried his hardest to avoid Cap’s probing glances, and thought he was going to escape without some sort of ‘don’t die for your pride’ speech, but he caught up to him right as the bomb squad guy stepped away. 

 

“All right, listen, Buck, you don't have to do this.”  He implored.

 

“You think I'm gonna let the new guy have all the fun?” He teased, while making his way over to the ambo, “Besides, you wanted us to bond.  We might end up real close.” Buck didn’t linger too long on his own words, knowing exactly how badly this could end. He took one last look at Cap, before hopping into the ambulance.

 

Half of the job was keeping patients calm if they were conscious.  If they started freaking out while you were trying to do something, it could only end one way: badly.  So as Buck and Eddie traded words with the patient, to keep him talking and alert, they were also trying to keep him distracted, while they both worked silently on him, getting him ready for what was next.

 

The nerves in Buck’s stomach reached a fever pitch as dark eyes pierced his own, “You ready?” Eddie asked.

 

“Yeah” He responded, stealing himself with a deep breath before removing the gauze from over his leg.  “He’s losing a lot of blood” he observed, although he was sure Eddie could see that for himself. As he placed his hands on either side of the wound to staunch the bleeding (‘Not too much pressure’ Eddie chided), Buck couldn’t help but think that if this thing went off, he would be  _ lucky _ to get away with a two hand amputation, but it’d probably be worse.

 

“There it is.” Eddie mumbled, more to himself than to Buck, it seemed.

 

But Buck responded anyways “Alright, then...Pull it out.” It seemed to be an obvious statement to make, but it didn’t seem like Eddie was making any moves.  As Eddie explained exactly why that was, Buck nodded along, his eyes taking in the pure concentration on Eddie’s face. At least if he died, he died knowing this guy was trying his damndest.  

 

“You got this.” he encouraged, all hostility towards the man gone, at least for this moment.  In this moment he wasn’t some guy trying to usurp his title of resident bad ass, he was a guy risking his life for a patient, just like Buck, just like any other member of their crew would do.  He was just doing his job. 

 

And with a soft squelch, the round was out.  For a moment, Buck forgot his part of the plan, and just looked on in awe.  That thing was….Larger than he expected. His eyes flicked to Eddie’s tense form, arms straining against the material of his shirt, as he held onto that round with everything he had.  Remembering his own part in the mission, Buck quickly fumbled for the box, holding it open for his partner and watched with wide eyes as the live ammunition was carefully placed in the box.  His heart jumped into his throat as the round rolled to the end of the box. Was this it? Was that enough rotations? But as he closed the lid quickly, it seemed as if they had been spared. 

 

As they handed off Charlie, the patient, to the hospital team, a cold sweat flooded Buck’s body, the adrenaline finally getting to him and making his hands shake, making it difficult to get his gloves off.  

 

He let out a deep, shaky exhale, trying to tamp down the sudden influx of nerves.

 

“Hey,” Eddie started “You’re bad-ass under pressure, brother.”

 

Buck’s own response made him want to groan “Me?”  he sounded so god damn earnest, but, well, Eddie had proved himself in there, made it clear that all his medal and shit wasn’t just talk, making him a real certified badass.  And, well, it was a nice thing to hear someone like that say that.

 

“Hell yeah.  You can have my back any day.” he replied, holding out his hand.

 

Now, Buck wasn’t about to let this guy be the bigger person. “Yeah.  Or, you know….You could--You could have mine.” But he meant it. It was obvious this guy wasn’t gonna be going away, and he meant business.  Taking his offered hand he shook it, as the other guy laughed at his antics. Although, this time he didn’t mind. It didn’t feel like it had in the truck the first day, it was different.

 

“Deal.”

 

\--

 

Eddie would never say he was glad that someone got a live round stuck in their leg but...Well, he was sort of glad.  Ever since that day in the back of the ambo (even if the grenade did end up going off, only minutes after they exited), Buck seemed to trust him, seemed to realize that they could both inhabit the same space.  

 

In fact, they seemed to be even getting along, and on calls they were in-sync; handing each other tools without asking, knowing what steps to take first without saying it aloud, hell, they even managed one hell of a synchronized dive into a pool when that idiot and his friends cemented a microwave onto one of their heads.  

 

Even when not on call, Buck seemed to stick to him like glue, and Eddie can’t say he minded.  He was good to have around, he kept things light and was like the team’s palette cleanser after particularly bad calls.  Always around with an ill-timed joke or some of his crazy antics to cheer everyone up and get their minds off their last call.  Sometimes, Eddie thought that maybe Buck acted silly or said something stupid just to give everyone a chance to tease him, knowing that’s what they needed to get a smile on their faces.  

 

He even surprisingly checked up on Eddie after a particularly bad one, that had shaken him a bit.  Eddie thought he had hid his reaction well, but apparently not well enough, as Buck had searched him out and found him hanging around behind the firehouse.

  
He didn’t tell him why it had shaken him up, just that it had, and after a few words that Eddie was almost sure Buck had lifted from Cap (although, they were still appreciated), Buck threw a muscular arm around his shoulder and insisted they go play pinball, insisting on new nicknames  _ all  _ the way back upstairs.


End file.
